iPod Challenge: Old Fiat s Italy
by Old Fiat
Summary: Written for OI's iPod challenge. This one is written by Old Fiat s. Italy. I don't know it n. France is going to write one.


iPod Challenge

**iPod Challenge**

Old Fiat

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**1.) **_"Land of a Thousand Words" by Scissor Sisters_

They'd drifted so far apart.

Ever since the Miss Teenage Pageant things had become awkward between them. Amber was certain that she hadn't spoken more than a syllable to her mother in months. They lived in the same house, went to the same places, ate dinner together in the same dining room, but silence always stretched between the two.

She missed it. She missed the silly discussions she had with her mother about clothes and make up and pimples. She missed the practical tips her mother had given her about falsies and boys and periods. Her mother was so full of feminine wisdom that Amber had been amazed by how shallow she was involving her own daughter.

Switching the tallies. How could her mother have done such a thing? Amber didn't care that she'd lost the Miss Teenage Hairspray crown—her mother's actions had made her loose a lot more. Trust.

So when she limped on to the dance floor with one of the boys from Negro Day, she looked over her shoulder at the middle-aged blonde. Velma just watched as her daughter walked away, her face stony.

They'd gone their separate ways. Amber's path led through to the future and Velma's would eventually lead to a dead-end.

**2.)** _"Oops!... I Did It Again" by Britney Spears_

Corny turned the leather dance shoes over in his hands. They were Italian and some of the finest shoes he'd ever had, but now he looked at them and all he could see was her.

She'd played him like the saxophone that had been playing when he first laid eyes on her. Tall, blonde, curvy—she looked like a goddess. When her fingers brushed his skin as they danced he felt electricity run through him.

She'd been the love of his life, the person he could've spent forever with. He bought her present after present, paying ludicrous amounts for her every whim. Every time he bestowed another gift to her, she'd whispered _I love you_ in a sultry tone and let her words tickle his skin.

He'd given her everything she'd wanted and what had she given him in return? A couple empty words and one pair of stupid dancing shoes on his birthday.

Finally, the truth had smacked him in the face when he knelt before her, a small red velvet box in his hand. He begged her spend the rest of her life with him—how much more of a sucker could he have been? She smiled at him condescendingly, closed the box and placed it in his jacket pocket, kissing him on the lips before walking off into the night, wearing the black, silk dress he'd bought for her before.

He looked at the shoes in his hands, her laughing face looking back at him from the shiny leather surface.

**3.)** _"My Life" by Billy Joel_

Penny set her jaw and looked her mother directly in the eye.

"Mom you can't do this to me," she stated simply. Something was bubbling inside of her, making it impossible to stop herself. "You can't."

Mrs. Pingleton rolled her eyes and grabbed her daughter by the arm.

"Penny, you come with me right now. You've clearly gotten possessed by some sort of wicked spirit. I'm taking you to the priest straight away."

"No!" She hadn't meant to shout it, but now a lot of the other happy dancing couples were watching the fight unfold. How the square, foolish Mrs. Pingleton got into the WYZT studios was beyond Penny, but she wasn't going to let her mother ruin this night. This was the most perfect moment of her life and the lives of many others. Who would've thought it'd happen in the midst of the 1962 Miss Teenage Hairspray Pageant?

"You can try to keep me away from Seaweed all you want but I'm not going to listen, Mom!" She watched the look of horror spread over Mrs. Pingleton's face and felt her heart beating faster. "This is my choice, not yours."

"Penny!" her mother shrieked, loosing the little patience she had. "You will come with me this instant!"

"No, Mom!" she said, pulling her arm out of Mrs. Pingleton's strong grasp. "My life, my choice. Just let me make it." She turned back towards Seaweed.

"Come on, baby," he said, taking her pale hand in his own chocolate colored one. "Let's dance."

She grinned back at him, feeling absolutely and completely perfect.

**4.)** _"Love It When You Call" by the Feeling_

Fender glanced at the phone for the three hundred and sixty-seventh time, wishing it would ring.

He didn't care that he was most definitely not the father of her baby. He would take of it and love it no matter what—anything just for just one sweet kiss.

If only she would see that.

He'd known she was the one for him the moment he arrived at the show. She was so pretty, so dark and so dangerous looking compared to the other councilettes with their ginger flips and pastel dresses. He had to have her. Unfortunately, she was too preoccupied with Corny and every other council boy to notice Fender's fervent efforts to receive her affections.

Every offer he made to her, pleading with her just to go with him, was rebuffed with a pointed laugh. He loved that laugh.

When she had finally broken down and told Corny that she was pregnant, he was furious. After an hour of him shouting at her, she ran off to her dressing room. He followed her, hoping to be of some comfort.

He'd given her his phone number, telling her that if she ever needed some help with the baby or just wanted to talk to give him a call.

_Ring! Ring!_

Fender jumped up from the couch and scooped up the phone before any of his other siblings could reach it. His heart pounded wildly as he put the receiver to his ear.

"H-hello?" he asked, voice shaking.

"Hi! This is Mr. Davies, one of your dad's business partners. Can I speak to your dad?"

Bitter disappointment filled him.

"Sure thing," he said and set the phone down on the coffee table. "Dad! Phone for you!"

His father poked his head out from his office.

"Who is it?"

"Mr. Davies."

His dad grinned at him.

"Thanks, son."

Fender insured his father had picked up the phone in his office before slamming the receiver back into the cradle and flopping back down on the couch.

He looked at the phone for the three hundred and sixty-ninth time. Would she ever call?

**5.)** _"Lonely" by Akon_

He'd screwed up everything.

He should've known that if he messed around enough that she'd leave him, he just hadn't ever properly thought about it. The temptations of all those other girls had distracted him from what he really had—the best girl he would ever have.

She had been beautiful, smart and kind. She could've had any other guy, but she had always stayed with him until she'd finally had enough and left.

Bix could never be with another girl, not after having had perfection.

**6.)** _"Any Other World" by MIKA_

"Are you alright, Link?"

He turned towards the petit girl next to him.

"Sure thing, Trace," he said, smiling cheerily down at her.

She furrowed her eyebrows.

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at his oddly happy expression.

He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything anymore. He hadn't been sure of anything in ages. Not since the word _cancer_ had actually begun to mean anything to him.

It had started as a cough, nothing really serious, but he and his father were very concerned. Mrs. Larkin smiled and assured them both that she was fine, it was probably just the cigarettes and hairspray finally taking their toll on her, but she made no effort to stop.

Finally the cough had grown so bad that his father had forced her to see a doctor. He had told her that she had lung cancer and started giving her some sort of injection.

Link really didn't understand the point of the injection because his mother started to become even sicker. She was in pain all the time and began vomiting a lot. Every time he came to visit her she seemed to have lost more weight, her face becoming hollow and her arms bony. He could remember how she shrieked when the long black locks she had prided so much began to fall out, how she'd begun to sob, clutching on to his father for dear life.

Then one day he came to visit her after the show had been aired. He ran happily into her hospital room, grinning and hoping to see her grin back. He had to smile otherwise she would feel even worse.

"Hiya mom!" he said, sitting at the end of her bed. "The funniest thing happened today—"

She looked at him strangely, as though she'd forgotten something important that she needed to do.

"Who are you?" she asked, cutting him off.

Tears filled his eyes and he tried with difficulty not to let them spill over.

"It's me, mom…" he said, trying to keep his voice steady. "Remember? Link? Your son?"

She gazed at him, her eyes blank.

The illness had changed her. Not only did she not look like his mother any more, she wasn't his mother. She couldn't remember him, though she continued to treat him with kindness, it wasn't the same. It was the way she treated his father's work colleagues, not her son.

Link smiled happily at Tracy.

"Of course I'm sure," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Com'mon, we have to get on the soundstage before they start filming."

About halfway through the show, the phone rang in Mrs. Von Tussle's office and the kids watched through the glass panel separating her from the set as she picked up the receiver.

"And that's our dance of the week shown by lil' Inez and Sketch. Let's give them a hand!" said Corny as one of the stage hands walked over with a phone.

"Mr. Larkin," she whispered softly. "I think you should take this."

He grinned at Corny, a little confused.

"I'll be right back," he said to the camera and stepped off the stage. Picking up the phone, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch at his father's voice. "Hey dad."

He returned to the soundstage a few moments later, a smile still on his face.

Corny turned towards him, his grin fading slightly when he saw the younger boy's face.

"You want to show us how to do the new Corny Collins' version of the Twist?" he asked, a little unsure.

"Of course!" said Link, his voice cracking slightly. He took Tracy by the hand and began to dance with her. About halfway through a special spin, he tripped over his own feet and found himself sprawled on the floor.

"Ouch!" said Corny, running down from his podium and helping up Link. "Are you alright Link? Link?"

The tears splashed down on the concrete floor as Link began to sob heavily.

No matter how much she had changed, despite the fact that she no longer remembered who he was—she had been his mother. And now he would never see her again.

**7.)** _"Millennium" by Robbie Williams_

Seaweed grinned as he danced with the goofy blonde. Penny really was the perfect girl for him. He loved the way that she would suck her lollipop whenever she was nervous and the way that she couldn't dance at all. He would just have to teach her and that meant spending more time with her which was fine with him.

He could remember perfectly the expression of shock and hatred that had twisted Velma Von Tussle's face when they had kissed on live television. The memory still made him laugh. He knew that a lot of people would look at them that way, but even more would smile at them the way Tracy and Link had on that wonderful night.

The Promised Land was coming, he knew it. It might take a couple of years but it would come and then they would all smile as he kissed Penny before the eyes of God.

**8.)** _"Invisible" by Taylor Swift_

Tracy sighed as Link grinned at Amber at the table where most of the council kids sat. The blonde tossed her stiff, curly hair and turned towards Tammy beside her. Tracy wondered how blind Amber was. Hadn't she seen the light behind Link's eyes when he'd smiled? Couldn't she see how hopelessly devoted he was to her?

Link wasn't exactly bright either. He never noticed Tracy at school no matter how high she teased her hair or how many times she waved at him across the classroom. He always had his eyes on Amber, desperately trying to get her attention.

This wouldn't bother Tracy so much if Amber returned Link's affections, but she didn't. She just laughed off his compliments and winks. Tracy would've killed to have Link wink at her.

But he never did. He just smiled at Amber, his eyes sparkling as she chatted with the other councilettes.

**9.)** _"Build Me Up Buttercup" by the Foundations_

Corny had had it.

He couldn't take it anymore. She would flirt and flirt and flirt with him, getting his hopes up before letting him fall.

Sometimes he loathed her and other times he swore to God that if she told him to jump he'd shout "How high?" It was impossible. He liked the way she toyed with him, bringing him close before sending him off.

It was Brenda's game and no matter how many times he said he hated playing it, he would fall for her tricks every time. The moments when she played with him were some of the best of his life.

He needed her so much. He didn't know why, but he did. He wanted her to build him up and let him drop.

She had him right were she wanted him, but he wasn't sure if she really wanted him there.

Then she got herself pregnant and tried to tell him it was his. He knew it wasn't true because they'd never done it. How could she try to pull that off? Did she think he was stupid or something? It was the end.

No matter how much he loved her, he knew she just liked having something to play with and he wasn't going to be her toy anymore.

**10.)** _"That Thing You Do!" by the 'Wonders'_

Maybelle shut her eyes and tried not to think. If she thought, she'd think about Corny and if she thought about Corny she'd just… go crazy or something.

She stood with him behind the podium while the other kids danced. He had so many adorable ticks—the way he slapped the beat of the song into the podium or the way he tossed his head whenever he went to speak into the microphone or maybe the stupid little dances he did as the music played. Whatever it was, something about him was driving her insane.

Or maybe what was driving her nuts was the way he watched the other girls around the studio, the way he flirted heavily with the make up girls and they giggled at all his moronic puns.

She couldn't take it, so she just shut her eyes and tried to forget him.

It was impossible, not with all the crazy things he did.


End file.
